Past Sermons |
10th April 2005 |
Seeing isn't Always Believing!
Luke 24:13-35
What a week it had been! Two of Jesus' lesser known disciples are on the road to Emmaus. One is named Cleopas (that's all we know about him) and the other one we don't even know his or her name.
They are but two of many pilgrims making their way home after the Passover festival in Jerusalem where Jesus was the prime attraction.
These two disciples had apparently thought so highly of Jesus - they'd even hoped that he was "The One." And so on Palm Sunday they joined the crowd in shouting their "hosannas" as Jesus came riding into Jerusalem.
But then on Friday they watched from afar with heavy hearts as the crowd changed their shouts of joy to shouts of "Crucify him!" and Jesus was hung on a cross to die. What a terrible ending to a week that had started out so well.
To add to the confusion, this morning, Sunday, there were rumors that Jesus was no longer lying in the tomb, but was alive, risen from the dead.
Now the two were walking home. The Passover was over, and they had to get back to work. It was almost too much to imagine that by morning they would be back to tending sheep and weeding fields. How could you return to such ordinary work after such a wonderful week -- such a terrible week?
The two of them talked as they walked, but they couldn't make sense of all that had happened. How could you make sense of Jesus being crucified? And how could you make sense of the report that he was now alive again? Their hopes had been dashed and they could do little more than console one another.
Then a stranger joined them on the road. He asked what they were talking about. Cleopas said: "Are you the only one in Jerusalem who hasn't heard what's happened during the last few days?"
The stranger asked, "What things?"
And so they told him about Jesus -- how Jesus had been a prophet -- how Jesus had worked great miracles and taught great wisdom. Then they told him how the chief priests had conspired to have Jesus killed.
And then they said: "We had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel."
"We had hoped!" Can you imagine any sadder words? "We had hoped!" Hope in the past tense! Hope turned hopeless! Hope spilled out onto the sand!
Have you ever felt like that? Have you ever felt the despair of hope in the past tense? Most of us, at some time in life, experience hope gone bad -- hope turned hopeless.
-- I HAD HOPED that that pretty blond would go out with me.
-- I HAD HOPED to get that promotion.
-- I HAD HOPED to be able to afford to buy a house.
-- I HAD HOPED that I could save our marriage.
-- I HAD HOPED that the doctor would have better news.
-- I HAD HOPED!
When Jesus heard, "I had hoped," he rebuked them. He called them slow of heart. Then he began to teach them about himself from the scriptures -- but they still didn't recognize him.
When they reached Emmaus, the disciples stopped because they had arrived home, but Jesus kept walking. They called him back -- urged him to stay with them, because it was evening -- so Jesus went home with them.
You need to understand that in those days, custom dictated that Jesus keep walking unless they really insisted that he stay -- but they really insisted. People in that time and place believed it important to be hospitable. Not everyone was, but these two were.
They were genuinely hospitable. They insisted that Jesus have dinner with them. They insisted that he stay overnight. Where else would he stay? There were many Passover pilgrims, and few inns. So Jesus stayed with them.
Whenever I read this story, I am reminded of the experience of Abraham and Sarah as described in our Old Testament lesson.
Abraham looked up one day and saw three men approaching. He knew that they would be weary after a long walk. He knew that they would be hungry and thirsty. He knew that they would need a place to sleep. He knew that God would want him to show hospitality, and so he did.
He invited them to his tent, and asked Sarah to fix dinner for them. Abraham and Sarah treated the travelers like royalty. They really took care of them.
And God rewarded their hospitality. It turned out that the men who looked like ordinary travelers were really messengers from God. They told Abraham and Sarah that they were going to have a baby -- the very thing for which Abraham and Sarah had always hoped.
But Abraham and Sarah were old, I mean really old, and their hope was long gone -- hope in the past tense -- hope turned hopeless. In fact, when Sarah heard the visitors say that she would have a baby, she laughed. She laughed, because it was ridiculous to believe that an old woman could have a baby.
But she did have a baby. God blessed Abraham and Sarah with a son. No longer did they have to say, "I had hoped." Now they could say, "God has blessed!"
I wonder what would have happened had Abraham failed to show hospitality to those strangers …
I am sure that if the two disciples on the road to Emmaus had failed to show hospitality to Jesus -- if they had failed to insist that he stay with them -- they would have missed a great blessing. They would have eaten dinner that night in silence. They would have gone to bed wondering what to think.
When they talked to their neighbors the next day, they would have said, "We had hoped!"
But that isn't what happened. They were Godly people, and they did the Godly thing. They showed kindness to this stranger. They invited him to have dinner with them -- to stay overnight -- to enjoy the pleasure of their company instead of a lonely night alongside the road.
At dinner that night, Jesus took bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them -- and their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And then, as suddenly as he had come, he was gone. He vanished from their sight.
But they had seen him. He had confirmed their hopes. They would no longer have to say, "We had hoped," but instead could say, "He is risen!"
In "Superman: The Movie," Superman first reveals his powers to the world with a dramatic rescue of Lois Lane. Lois is dangling from a cable high above the Daily Planet building. She is screaming at the top of her lungs. Just as she begins her long fall toward earth, Superman changes into his power suit and swoops up to catch her in midair. "Don't worry, Miss," he says. "I've got you."
"Thanks," says Lois. "But who's got you?"
Just then a helicopter that has been parked on the edge of the building starts to fall straight toward them and the crowd below. But Superman simply grabs it with his one free arm and gently sets both it and Lois safely back on the landing pad. When he turns to leave, Lois stammers out the words, "Who are you?"
Superman says, "A friend" and flies off just before Lois faints into a heap.
Isn't that how we would like Christ to come to us? And I'll bet that's why we often aren't paying attention when he comes in less spectacular ways.
I believe that God sends us Jesus in disguise, not dressed up as Superman swooping in and saving the day … but in the guise of one another. Maybe a child who needs help with reading; a man down on his luck - just needing something to eat; a friend who needs you to hear her story or maybe just a shoulder to cry on.
I am sure that you have heard of Ashley Smith. You might not recognize her name, but you have certainly heard her story.
Ashley is the young woman taken hostage by Brian Nichols, the man who killed a judge and three other people in Atlanta. When I read her story, I was impressed with the way that she responded to that frightening situation.
Ashley has had a troubled life -- drugs and other problems. Not so long ago, when she hit bottom, Ashley spent two months in a Christian clinic for drug abusers. The counselors not only helped her to get off drugs, but they also helped her turn her heart to God.
When Brian Nichols took her hostage, she had in her possession a copy of "The Purpose Driven Life" -- a book about Christian faith.
When Nichols took her captive, Ashley talked to him about God. She showed him pictures of her family. She read to him from "The Purpose Driven Life."
When Nichols asked what she thought he should do, she was honest with him. She told him that he needed to stop running -- he needed to turn himself in. She told him that, when he went to prison, he could fulfill his "miracle" by "sharing the word of God" with other inmates.
You know the rest of the story. He let her go, she called the police, and Nichols surrendered peacefully. The book of Proverbs says, "A soft answer turns away wrath," and that was true in this case. Nichols called Ashley "an angel sent by God" -- and I believe that he may have been right.
Now, let me make it clear, I do not believe that every violent person can be persuaded by gentleness. There are too many situations to the contrary.
But I mention the story of Ashley Smith, because faced with a terrible situation, instead of dismissing Nichols as a lost cause, she told him that he didn't have to die in a blaze of gunfire. She showed him that his life could have purpose, even in prison. God had redeemed her from a difficult past, and God could redeem him too.
I don't know how many lives Ashley saved that day -- possibly her own life -- almost certainly Brian Nichols life -- and perhaps the lives of neighbors -- of innocent bystanders -- of police officers.
I hope that God doesn't decide to bless you by sending you a killer to placate, but I am confident that God will send you blessings wrapped as ordinary people in need: Watch for them. Watch for the person sent by God for you to help. Watch for angels disguised as people in need. Watch for the opportunity to become a blessing.
But to be safe, because even if we watch, we may not recognize who God sends our way, just as those two disciples didn't recognize Jesus as they walked home to Emmaus, maybe the best advice is to treat ALL PEOPLE as the gift from God that they certainly may be.
Our goal should be to treat others not as we want to be treated but as we would treat Jesus Himself. That is God's real work.
By opening our eyes to Jesus' presence in those around us, we will come to see His spirit manifesting in our own lives.
Let us open our eyes. This opportunity is with us right now. Let us not waste this chance to get to know the Jesus who is in our midst at this very moment.
Hope does not have to be in the past tense - for us or for those sitting on our left or right, in here or out there. Christ is with us - and if we treat one another as such - we all will be richly blessed.
Pastor Tom |
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